The Late Bus

The school bus was late today. Fifteen minutes late.

Normally that gets me all irritated, but today I didn't mind so much. If it had been on time there's a good chance Brenna would've missed it altogether. In our house, the entire morning routine starts with Michael. If he hits the snooze, we're all in trouble.

It goes a little like this. The alarm goes off, but I never hear it. Michael turns it off and gets up to take his shower. I am vaguely aware that he's gotten up, but promptly fall back into a deep sleep. (Have I mentioned once or twice that I'm not a morning person?) Once he's ready for work, Michael wakes up Brenna and they bring the clothes I had set out for her back to our room. I don't trust her to get dressed in her own room because I worry she'll wake Daniel up. Or lay back down on the bed and fall asleep....like her mother.

I finally have no choice but to get out of bed, so I dress quickly and help Brenna with her outfit for the day. Today, her pants were too short, so we had to go searching for another pair. While I'm fixing her hair, Michael gets their breakfasts ready. I put Brenna's lunch together while she eats breakfast and then the nagging starts. Once her backpack is all ready to go, I don't have anything else to do but watch the clock and worry that she's going be late. It seems to me that she stalls out every single morning at this point. The last three steps - finish eating, bathroom break, and brushing teeth- take forever!

And today was no exception. I fussed and pushed and nagged. Hurry up. You gotta move a little faster. Let's go. You're gonna be late. It's time to go. Come on! Now Brenna! So we rushed out the door, later than usual, while she pulled her coat on and I carried her backpack. When the cold air hit her face, she suddenly got a burst of energy and wanted to run all the way to the bus stop. I convinced her to wait up so I could pray for her day as we walked. (We used to have time to do that on the couch before we had to leave.) As we got to the stop and I noticed that everyone was there - even the boys that usually come running as the bus starts to pull away. And that's when I knew we were going to be standing there for a while. Maybe a long while.

The long while turned out to be fifteen minutes. A cool, brisk, fall fifteen minutes, but I didn't mind it nearly as much as the cold, windy, rainy day last week when the bus was late. Plus the bus driver is always so apologetic. He explains what happened, (today he had to pick up an extra elementary run) and cheerfully greets the kids. Brenna settled into the first seat with another little kindergartner and they smiled and waved as the bus accelerated.

All's well that ends well, eh?

You know, if I spin this right, it's all Michael's fault, though, huh? : )